Category Archives: Pets

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As I have mentioned before, we have 3 cats and a dog in our house. Call it a mini zoo. They are part of our family, even if it’s a little much sometimes! We are at Target this weekend picking up some pet supplies that we needed and Lennox told me she wanted to help pick everything out. So, of course, I let her! You pretty much can find any everyday cat and pet care item that you will need at Target, which is nice that you can do one less stop while running your weekly errands!

This got me thinking. From time to time Lennox would feed and water the cats, but now that she is five, it’s time to give her more daily responsibility. We have had a hard time sticking with chores. It is partially our fault, but I think starting with one area rather than being so broad with household chores, may help. So lets start with the cats!

Cat Care Chores For Kids

Feed the cats before bedtime

This is an easy chore, as we only give our cats dry food. If Lennox will fill up their bowl before bed each night the cats are set until the afternoon the next day! We also just switched our food to IAMS Dry Food – Indoor Weight & Hairball Care. Lennox can barely get the food bowl down before the cats have run into the room to eat it! They just love it so much. Especially our picky cat, Gracie!PS. If you are shopping at Target, which I recommend, make sure to get one of these Cartwheel coupons:

Give the cats fresh water daily

Fresh water is so important with cats. We learned this the hard way when one of our cats kept getting sick. Now we make sure they always have a clean bowl of water. Another easy task for a five year old to do. But I would recommend bringing the water to the bowl, rather than filling the bowl with water and walking across the house with it!

Play with the cats

This isn’t really a chore, but more a reminder! Be nice to the cats and play with them. Indoor cats don’t always get as much exercise as outdoor cats, so finding new toys and just giving them the attention and love they need make them happy pets!

Clean the bowls once a week

Making sure that the bowls get washed with soap or run through the dishwasher once a week is important. There are so many germs and gunk that build up over the week – so make sure they get clean! Another easy job for a five year old!

Clean cat food mat once a week

Cleaning the mat, whenever you clean the bowls is another easy task that can be done. Rinse it off in the sink or use a wipe to clean it all off. Our mat is plastic so it’s quick and easy to clean.

One thing that was came about unexpectedly was that our cat Gracie, who is known as the not so nice cat around here, has decided to start loving Lennox! She wants to go to bed with her every single night. She will cuddle up with her in bed for a few hours before asking to get out of the room. And then of course, in the middle of the night, she is meowing to go back in the room!

Although the middle of the night meowing is somewhat annoying, it’s sweet to listen to Lennox each night talking to her kitty, Gracie, while she tries to go to sleep. It has also made bedtime go just a bit smoother each night. We have less and less, “mom, I need to tell you something” calls from upstairs! I’ll take it!

So if you are considering having your young child help you with some chores around the house and you have a cat or dog, use these tips to help you get started! And if you shop at Target already, make sure to check out their pet care department for all your pet needs! We were able to find everything we needed (plus a little more!), thanks to Target.

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®, Litter Genie® and Fancy Feast®, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #Catparentshttp://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

We have a full house when it comes to pets – 3 cats and 1 dog – yes I know, you may wonder what we were thinking – but I can’t really answer that – I don’t know! They all came pre-baby and it didn’t seem like a lot! Now, well – they are part of the family so, that’s all that matters! Lennox is now at the age where she loves the pets and likes to help out. Finding solutions that keep all the pet stuff in order is ideal for that many pets as well. One thing that is hard when you have 3 cats is the litter box situation and I say situation, because it really is somewhat of a pain in the butt!

At one point we had 2 litter boxes, but that was just more cleaning, and honestly they favored one over the other. So now we are back to just 1 box with liners. Having liners helps A LOT! So what’s next in making our cat care easier? Litter Genie! I had seen Litter Genie advertised and heard from a few friends that it worked well, but I had never tried it out. So while at Target the other week, I decided to head to the pet department and check them out.

They were much more affordable than I had envisioned and from the packaging, it looked really simple to use. Think diaper pail meets cat litter, and you have a Litter Genie!

The Litter Genie Pail has a compact design and you wouldn’t know what it is if you saw it out in the open. This is great when you need to store it or use it in your home – whether it’s the bathroom, laundry room or where ever you may leave your kitty litter box! The refills are easy to install as well, and last up to 8 weeks for one cat! There are 3 easy steps to follow when using the Litter Genie.

Scoop the clumps from the litter box with the included scoop.

Open the lid and drop in the clumps of kitty litter. The airtight design keeps the smells in even when the lid is open!

Close the lid, pull the handle so that the litter falls into the plastic bag and you’re done! For one cat – you can leave the waste sealed for up to 14 days.

As you can see – we put our Litter Genie in our utility / laundry room. This is where we have our litter box as well, tucked away in the corner. Usually we have to pull out trash bags to clean the box, but now I can just pick up and move the Litter Genie next to the box and scoop – and I don’t have to run the bag out to the trash each night. I love the simple design that will match any room you need to put it in!

I can’t forget to mention as well, that if you shop at Target – they are having a bonus offer going on now through 4/11/15! Buy any TWO (2) Fancy Feast® – 24 pack OR Litter Genie® Pail/Refill and get a free Cat Toy or Friskies party mix cat treat. While Supplies Last.

Litter is not the most fun part of owning a cat – but all cat owners need to deal with it, so if there is something that can make our lives easier – I’m all for trying it! I hope this will help some other cat owners as well!

I have shared stories about our pup, Daisy Mae, before – but this next week is a special week for her! It’s her Birthday week! The little puppy that we picked up at the airport and brought home a few months after buying our first home, is now going to be SEVEN years old! I can’t believe how fast those 7 years have gone – but she is still our BIG baby! Now that she is getting older, even if we don’t want to admit it, she is turning into a “mature” senior dog. She may not always act mature, haha, but we have to make sure we take care of her like a senior dog. Making sure that she gets enough exercise to keep her healthy and happy, and making sure that she has the right dog food for her dietary needs! Before I show you how BIG she is now.. Let’s look at the days when she was just a little thing!

Here are her mom and dad, Duke & Dutchess. Kyle found Daisy online by chance and instantly fell in love with her. I had never even heard of her breed, a Black & Tan Coonhound, but with a little research we learned that she would grow to be a very sweet pup.

Daisy was born in Oklahoma, but we were able to pick her up here in Texas. She was just a few months old, and still a big baby! She wasn’t quite sure about this walking on a leash but she soon learned to love it and her new home! Here is Kyle with her on our first walk and first day in Texas!

She was so cute and little, and a little crazy! Flash forward to when Lennox was born. She immediately knew it was a little person who she had to be careful around and would protect her will all her might!

She now has grown into a big beautiful dog! She is the sweetest dog and I can’t believe she is already almost 7 years old. Our little baby, is no longer a little baby!

Now that she is getting older, we have noticed that she gets a little stiff at times, drier skin, less energy – so it’s time to make sure we are taking care of her and giving her a good senior dog food. Daisy Mae also seems to get bored with her food after a while. I guess if you ate the same thing, day in and day out, you may get bored too! So we sometimes add in a few extra treats for her – to get her motivated to eat when she is being EXTRA lazy!!

5 Healthy Additions to Dry Dog Food

We still use our current dog food (now Purina ONE) but we add healthy add-ins, such as:

Carrots and other Veggies (Daisy loves baby carrots!)

Yogurt – plain non-fat or low-fat would be the best idea so you don’t give your dog any unneeded sugar. It is also a great source of Probiotics

Eggs

Steamed / Boiled Chicken

Fruits (berries are great antioxidants!)

Purina ONE 28-Day Challenge

So now that we have gotten Daisy more excited about her food – we are ready to start the Purina ONE 28-Day Challenge. When we saw the 28-day challenge for cats, we looked to see if there was one for dogs too and there is! I ordered some on Amazon and received it in just a day with Amazon Prime! I think Daisy could even smell it through the box when it was delivered!